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Ruby Lake Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Trout and largemouth bass in the marshes and ponds of Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, at 6,000 feet in Elko County.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~63 F est.
Air / High
42 / 63 F
Wind
S 7 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
9
November 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Ruby Lake is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 63. Water sits around 63 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:12 PM-1:12 AM and 10:48 AM-12:48 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Rainbow troutGood

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Largemouth bassFair

In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Tomorrow: Similar at 59 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Nov 10, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Nevada requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $40.00 for residents. What a Nevada licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with NDOW before you keep anything. The season dates for Nevada, read off the agency, are on the Nevada seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~63 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp42 F
High / Low63 / 38 F
WindS 7-7 mph
Pressure1015.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain89% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:20 / 16:30
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~63 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Ruby Lake this week

The best day on Ruby Lake this week looks like Tuesday Nov 10, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Nov 10 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Nov 9 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
11:12 PM-1:12 AM and 10:48 AM-12:48 PM
Minor period
6:37 AM-7:37 AM
Sun
06:20 to 16:30
Moon
New Moon, 0% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 13 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Ruby Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Ruby Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 63 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~63 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Ruby Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Nov 8

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 11 mph.

Sat, Nov 7

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 9 mph.

Fri, Nov 6

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 49 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Nevada requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Nevada fishing license. Refuge rules: artificial lures only and no wading in the Collection Ditch; no bait fish or chumming; no cleaning fish on the refuge. Check the current NDOW regulations for limits.

Access

Main Boat Landing and Narciss Boat Landing; South Marsh closed to boats January 1–June 14, electric or non-motorized June 15–July 31, gas motors up to 10 hp August 1–December 31.

About this water

Spring-fed marshes, ponds and ditches in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko County, Nevada, at about 6,000 feet.

Fishing Ruby Lake: the full guide

Refuge waters

Ruby Lake lies at about 6,000 feet in a closed basin in eastern Nevada, and NDOW says the refuge holds more than 9,000 acres of lakes, ponds and waterways. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opens South Marsh, the Collection Ditch, Units 10, 13, 14, 20 and 21, and Gravel Pit, Willow, North County Line and Hidden Springs ponds to fishing all year.

Trout and bass

The refuge lists rainbow, tiger, brook, cutthroat and brown trout and largemouth bass. NDOW says the bass average about 11 inches and the trout usually top 15, and its records show rainbow stockings in 2024 and tiger trout in 2023. In its September 1, 2026 report NDOW found water levels down and weeds up, with fishing still decent.

Boats on South Marsh

Boating follows the calendar: no boats from January 1 to June 14; non-motorized craft and battery-powered electric motors from June 15 to July 31; and from August 1 to December 31, non-motorized boats or gas motors of 10 hp or less. NDOW lists the Main Boat Landing and the Narciss Boat Landing, the latter affected by low water this year.

Refuge rules

Only artificial lures may be used in the Collection Ditch, and wading there is not allowed. Live or dead bait fish and chumming are prohibited across the refuge, and fish may not be cleaned or filleted within its boundaries.

Common questions

When can I take a boat on South Marsh?

From June 15. Until July 31 only non-motorized boats and electric motors are allowed; from August 1 to December 31, gas motors of 10 hp or less are allowed too.

Which fish are in the refuge?

Rainbow, tiger, brook, cutthroat and brown trout, plus largemouth bass, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Can I use bait in the Collection Ditch?

No. NDOW lists artificial lures only and no wading there, and bait fish are banned throughout the refuge.

Is fishing good at Ruby Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

South Fork Reservoir35 miComins Lake82 miCave Lake83 miWildhorse Reservoir103 miRye Patch Reservoir148 miWillard Bay195 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 40.2000, -115.5000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.